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Things have been coming together extremely fast in the last week for Paul Singh's Iowa Tech Tour (remember to click the Count Me In! button to get direct updates).
First of all, tremendous thanks to the folks who reached out to me after last week's announcement to help cover the final costs of bring Paul to Iowa for the week: Twilio and Square One DSM. With the support of these two organizations and the aforementioned Next Level Ventures, Iowa Venture Capital Association, Davis Brown Law Firm, NewBoCo and BrownWinick—Attorneys at Law we're in great shape for this series of events.
The online schedule will start to update very soon but for now I can let you in a few of the events that we have confirmed (events are in Des Moines unless otherwise noted):
Monday, July 18
Tuesday, July 19
Wednesday, July 20
Thursday, July 21
- Pancakes with Paul breakfast meetup in Cedar Rapids (Thanks to event sponsor NewBoCo)
- Eastern Iowa Angel Investor Meetup in Cedar Rapids (Thanks to event sponsor NewBoCo)
Friday, July 22
- Startup Ames lunch meetup (Paul Singh to be the speaker)
Gravitate is hosting free/open coworking from 9 AM-5 PM every day of the tour so if you're traveling into Des Moines to participate and need a place to land or just need a spot to get some work down in between events, we have you covered.
Several more events to come! We'll announce them at the Iowa Tech Tour website as they're finalized.
Geoff
PS. This Friday is First Friday at Gravitate! We'll have free/open coworking from 9 AM-5 PM and we'd love to see you. At 4:30 we'll start Happy Hour and open our latest gallery show Liz DeCleene's "Nightwalk".
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U.S. Economic Development Administration Invests $800,000 to Help Grow Tech-Based Entrepreneurship in Iowa City, Iowa
EDA.gov (June 27)
Earlier this week, the U.S. Commerce Department’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) announced a $800,000 grant to the Iowa City Area Development Group (ICAD) to help build out its MERGE Space. The coworking space, tech incubator and prototype lab will have room for up to 30 individuals and 18 private team offices as well as conference and event space. The grant money will help renovate the Iowa City Public Library where the MERGE Space will be located.
“The Obama administration is committed to providing American entrepreneurs with the tools they need to grow and thrive,” said Jay Williams, U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development. “The EDA grant announced today will help to establish a space that will bring entrepreneurs in the Iowa City region together to learn from one-another, grow and create new products and solutions.”
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GoogleFest invites area businesses, nonprofits to learn tech tips
The Daily Nonpareil (Mike Bell, June 26)
GoogleFest is coming to Iowa! On August 10 Google will bring the free, half-day event to Iowa Western Community College (Council Bluffs) to give small business owners, nonprofits and educators the opportunity to learn how they can impact their organizations through technology. Chris Russell, operations manager at Google's Council Bluffs data center, told the Daily Nonpareil that "Google is a proud member of the Council Bluffs community and this is a great way for local organizations to take advantage of having Google in their backyard."
The day will begin with a session highlighting Google’s free online tools and continue with in-depth breakout sessions to help their organizations prosper depending on their specific track. GoogleFest is hosted in partnership with the Council Bluffs Area Chamber of Commerce, Iowa Small Business Development Center, Nonprofit Association of the Midlands, and Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce.
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Under new management, what's next for EntreFest?
Des Moines Register (Matt Patane, June 24)
Last week this newsletter covered the announcement that the University of Northern Iowa officially turned over operations and ownership of EntreFEST to NewBoCo. This week community members received even more details about what to expect from the conference in 2017. NewBoCo Executive Director Eric Engelmann says the event will be one day shorter and offer a scaled down version of what EntreFEST was previously. A full-time staff person also will be dedicated to the planning of EntreFEST, which will still be sponsored by the state's three regent universities in 2017.
"We’ve gotten a lot of feedback that it got so big that it was a little bit overwhelming, so I think we’re going to streamline maybe the number of options so it’s a little simpler," Eric told The Register. "But, I think it will have the same kind of energy, the same kind of flair, the same kind of what I felt was a pretty aggressive event in terms of really being creative and surprising and different."
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Iowa Startup Power Rankings—June
Geoff Wood
Power Rankings Month #3! This month the rankings are more of "startup community" rankings as two support organizations that do a lot for entrepreneurs in Iowa make the list for the first time and in the top two positions. They're followed on the list by three startups, two of which return to the rankings for their second straight month.
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Coffee Shop Coworking: Ritual Cafe
Megan Bannister
If you’re in downtown’s Western Gateway and aren’t a habitual Starbucks sipper, Ritual Cafe is a wonderful, local alternative. Located just east of the Pappajohn Sculpture Park, the cozy coffee shop focuses on all things vegan, vegetarian, and organic in a bright, inviting atmosphere.
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